There are generally two situations where a medical officer would want to pro-rate an annual bonus:
- The first situation occurs during a General Medical Officer (GMO) tour when a medical officer is transferring into an active duty residency training program. The issue is that GMOs are eligible for the Additional Special Pay bonus while residents are not. For example, a GMO is due for the ASP bonus in January but is due to begin a residency in July. According to military medicine instructions in this situation the GMO would be eligible for a 6 month pro-rated bonus to cover the January - June time period.
- The second situation in which a medical officer would want to receive a prorated bonus occurs with release from military service. The medical officer received an annual bonus in October but is leaving military service after 9 months in July of the following next year. This situation is described as a "pay gotcha" because the medical officer is not eligible for a pro-rated bonus. In this case, taking the annual bonus would extend the medical officer's service obligation 12 months. The result is that the medical officer would not be able to leave military service until October of the following year.
